Kareem Between
Written by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
Published by Penguin Young Readers Group
Seventh grade begins, and Kareem’s already fumbled it.
His best friend moved away, he messed up his tryout for the football team, and because of his heritage, he was voluntold to show the new kid—a Syrian refugee with a thick and embarrassing accent—around school. Just when Kareem thinks his middle school life has imploded, the hotshot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout for the squad. There’s a catch: to secure that chance, Kareem must do something he knows is wrong.
Then, like a surprise blitz, Kareem’s mom returns to Syria to help her family but can’t make it back home. If Kareem could throw a penalty flag on the fouls of his school and home life, it would be for unnecessary roughness.
Kareem is stuck between. Between countries. Between friends, between football, between parents—and between right and wrong. It’s up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle.
Primary ISBN: 9780593699263
Publication Date: September 2024
Available As: Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, eBook
Middle Grade, Age 08 or older
Community Represented: Muslim/Muslim American, Syrian/Syrian American
Themes: Accolades & Awards, Accolades & Awards: Starred Review, Event: MCSTOYA Connects: Migration Reads, Family Relationship: Parents, Family Separation: By Detention, Format: Audiobook, Format: Novel In Verse, Generation: 1st, Own Voices/Lived Experience, Religious Background: Muslim, Sports
Setting: United States
Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: 1st Generation
Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience
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